Emergency Food Centre

• Submit the request form by clicking “Request an Emergency Hamper” above.
• You will need to create an Ookslife account to access the form.
• You will be asked questions about your enrollment as a NAIT Student, income, dietary preferences, and household information.
• We will review your request and either approve or deny your request within 24-48 business hours.
• You will receive a notification on Ookslife whether your hamper request was approved or denied, as well as an email. This notification will contain important pickup information, so please read through it in its entirety.
• If your emergency hamper is approved, you will receive an invitation to the hamper pickup event on Ookslife. These invitations are completely confidential. No one will be able to see the attendees of these events except NAITSA Service Hub Staff.
• Come to the NAITSA office (O108) within one business day of approval to pick up your food hamper.
• You must bring your student ID, enough bags to carry all your items, as well as the Alberta Health Care Cards of any dependents you put on your hamper request. *Please note the Alberta Health Care Card is the only form of ID we will accept for dependents.
• We request that you pick up the emergency hamper within 1 business day of approval. This is for two reasons. The NAITSA  Emergency Food Centre needs to use our limited resources to help as many students as possible. If a hamper doesn’t get picked up for multiple days or weeks, the food inside isn’t being used to help other students. We also have limited storage space in our office.
• Scan the QR code in the NAITSA office so we can track your attendance to the hamper pickup event.
• Take the items in your food hamper home! You may request another food hamper in the next request period (emergency hampers are offered once per month).

NAITSA’s Food Centre is currently only equipped to provide non-perishable food to students. This includes products like peanut butter, canned products (inducing canned soups, vegetables, proteins and fruits), dried kinds of pasta and rice, and some snacks like granola bars and applesauce. We also provide limited hygiene items based on availability, for example, deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrushes, feminine hygiene products, or razors.

If you are in need of perishable food items, please contact the Edmonton Food Bank.

You can receive it once a month. Once we approve your submission, we will also provide you with the date you can request your next hamper.

Please do not come to pick up your hamper before you’ve received approval.

Yes, in the hamper request form, there will be a place for you to input household information. Here you can indicate how many dependents you have, and we can build your hamper accordingly. Dependents are family members that depend on you like a spouse or children. Siblings and roommates do not count as dependents, so we are unable to include additional items for them in your food hamper.

The NAITSA Emergency Food Centre is a service available to all NAITSA members who require emergency food assistance. The service is confidential; NAITSA does not notify any third parties if you choose to access this service. Therefore, accessing the NAITSA Emergency Food Centre does not have any impact on your immigration status with NAIT or IRCC.

If you have any questions and concerns regarding accessing services in Canada as an international student and how they could impact your status, please feel free to submit any Immigration questions through NAIT.ca/help. You can also book an appointment with an advisor here.

All donations are wonderful; however, there are certain items that The Food Centre needs more.

Meat and Proteins

• Peanut butter
• Kidney beans
• Canned tuna
• Chickpeas
• Canned turkey
• Canned chicken
• Brown beans
• Black beans

Fruits and Vegetables

• Canned vegetables of any variety
• Canned fruits of any variety

Grains

• Rice
• KD
• Quick rice
• Dried pasta of any kind

Soups

• Vegetarian
• Chicken noodle
• Tomato

Misc

• Snack products (ie. granola bars, applesauce, pudding, Mr. noodles, crackers, cookies, etc)

Additional Information

Although we appreciate all donations, we ask that donors pay attention to product expiration dates before donating to the NAITSA Food Centre.

PLEASE NOTE: At this time, the Food Centre CANNOT accept perishable food items (produce, non-powdered dairy, meat products).

Many consumers have concerns around expiry/best before dates on their food products. For the non-perishable items we collect, these dates are no indication of food safety –as long as they are unopened, the products are still perfectly safe to consume without any health risks. ‘Best Before’ dates on non-perishable products are used to indicate optimum freshness – after the indicated date the food may lose some of its freshness and nutritional value, and may have a slightly different texture. However, it will still be safe to consume.

Keeping all that in mind, we here at the NAITSA Food Centre do encourage donors to pay attention to ‘Best Before’ dates on items donated, as we can make better use out of items well within their dates.

More information on the topic can be found at the following links:

• Canadian Food Inspection Agency
• 99percentinvisible.org
• The Globe and Mail
• Global News

The Edmonton Food Bank can provide you with a food hamper that includes perishable food items (produce, meat products, eggs, etc based on what they have).

Those in need can either call The Edmonton Food Bank at 780-425-4190 or you can contact NAITSA at 780-471-8855, email foodcentre@nait.ca or in our office O108, and we can provide a one-time referral for you.

The Edmonton Food Bank staff can provide you with a location closer to your home if you call 780-425-4190. You will need a valid photo ID and bags to carry the food when picking it up.

https://www.edmontonsfoodbank.com/need-help/

***Please note that if you request a one-time referral from us, you are expected to pick it up at the Edmonton Food Bank in a timely manner.

– St. Albert Food Bank: https://stalbertfoodbankandcommunityvillage.com/
– Fort Saskatchewan Food Bank: https://fortsaskatchewanfoodbank.com/
– Leduc & District Food Bank: https://www.ldfb.ca/
– Spruce Grove Food Bank: https://parklandfoodbank.org/
– Strathcona County Food Bank: https://strathconafoodbank.ca/
– Rock Soup Greenhouse and Food Bank: https://www.rocksoup.ca/

* These Food Banks do not require referrals.

Wecan is a non-profit group that helps people buy fresh fruit and vegetables and freshly frozen meat for $25.00 a month. Members receive three types of fruit, three types of vegetables, and three types of freshly frozen meat. You do not need to buy a membership or make an order every month. Unfortunately the NAITSA Food Centre is unable to act as a depot at this time, however here is a list of depots.

For more information, please visit Wecan Food Society website.

211 is an Edmonton-based referral phone line that connects people to social, government, and health services in their area. 211 can provide service beyond food needs and can specialize in referrals to your needs and area.

211 – Resource Lists

Flashfood offers great discounts on a variety of products that are nearing the expiration date. Flashfood is offered at multiple grocery stores.

https://www.flashfood.com/

• Click here to download NAIT School of Health and Life Science guide to nutrition and oral health – Happy, Healthy Mouth.
• Community Pantry – Learn more about this initiative.